16,585 research outputs found
Alternative antibody for the detection of CA125 antigen: a European multicenter study for the evaluation of the analytical and clinical performance of the Access (R) OV Monitor assay on the UniCel (R) Dxl 800 Immunoassay System
Background: Cancer antigen CA125 is known as a valuable marker for the management of ovarian cancer. Methods: The analytical and clinical performance of the Access OV Monitor Immunoassay System (Beckman Coulter) was evaluated at five different European sites and compared with a reference system, defined as CA125 on the Elecsys System (Roche Diagnostics). Results: Total imprecision (%CV) of the OV Monitor ranged between 3.1% and 8.8%, and inter-laboratory reproducibility between 4.7% and 5.0%. Linearity upon dilution showed a mean recovery of 100% (SD+8.1%). Endogenous interferents had no influence on OV Monitor levels (mean recoveries: hemoglobin 107%, bilirubin 103%, triglycericles 103%). There was no high-dose hook effect up to 27,193 kU/L. Clinical performance investigated in sera from 1811 individuals showed a good correlation between the Access OV Monitor and Elecsys CA125 (R = 0.982, slope = 0.921, intercept = + 1.951). OV Monitor serum levels were low in healthy individuals (n = 267, median = 9.7 kU/L, 95th percentile = 30.8 kU/L), higher in individuals with various benign diseases (n = 549, medians = 10.9-16.4 kU/L, 95th percentiles = 44.2-355 kU/L) and even higher in individuals suffering from various cancers (n = 995, medians= 12.4-445 kU/L; 95th percentiles = 53.4-4664 kU/L). Optimal diagnostic accuracy for cancer detection against the relevant benign control group by the OV Monitor was found for ovarian cancer {[}area under the curve (AUC) 0.898]. Results for the reference CA125 assay were comparable (AUC 0.899). Conclusions: The Access OV Monitor provides very good methodological characteristics and demonstrates an excellent analytical and clinical correlation with Elecsys CA125. The best diagnostic accuracy for the OV Monitor was found in ovarian cancer. Our results also suggest a clinical value of the OV Monitor in other cancers
Techniques, based on extremal subspaces, for improved reconstruction of signals from samples
Extremal subspaces techniques for reconstruction of signal from sample
Extragalactic H 2 regions in the UV: Implications for primeval galaxies and quasars
Three extragalactic regions of rapid star formation with red shifts great enough to separate the L alpha region from geocoronal L alpha were observed with the IUE satellite. Only the low metal abundance object had detectable L alpha emission. L alpha is therefore expected to be weak or absent in collapsed primeval galaxies. The detected object has a L alpha H beta identical to that of quasars
Higher-order contributions and non-perturbative effects in the non-degenerate nonlinear optical absorption of direct-gap semiconductors
The semiconductor Bloch equations for a two-band model including inter- and
intraband excitation are used to study the nonlinear absorption of single and
multiple light pulses by direct-gap semiconductors. For a consistent analysis
the contributions to the absorption originating from both the interband
polarization and the intraband current need to be included. In the Bloch
equation approach theses contributions as well as different excitation pathways
in terms of sequences of inter- and intraband excitations can be evaluated
separately which allows for a transparent analysis, the identification of the
dominant terms, and analyzing their dependence on the excitation conditions. In
the perturbative regime, we obtain analytical expressions for the multi-photon
absorption coefficients for continuous-wave excitation. These results are shown
to agree well with numerical results for short pulses and/or finite dephasing
and relaxation times and we confirm the previously predicted strong enhancement
of two-photon absorption for non-degenerate conditions for pulsed excitation.
We discuss the dependencies on the light frequencies, initial band populations,
and the time delay between the pulses. The frequency dependence of the
two-photon absorption coefficient for non-degenerate excitation is evaluated
perturbatively in third-order. The higher-order contributions to the optical
absorption include three- and four-photon absorption and show a rich frequency
dependence including negative regions and dispersive lineshapes.
Non-perturbative solutions of the Bloch equations demonstrate a strongly
non-monotonous behavior of the intensity-dependent optical absorption for a
single incident pulse and in a pump-probe set-up
Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Imaging and High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Water Photodissociation Products in Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2)
Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) provided a target of opportunity for performing a systematic study of water photodissociation products in which we obtained data from three instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) was used to measure the line profile of hydrogen Lyα (H Lyα) at six locations around the coma of the comet, ranging from the nucleus to a displacement of 100,000 km, and covering different directions compared with the comet-sun line. GHRS yielded line profiles with a spectral resolution (FWHM ~4 km s^(-1)) that was a factor of 2-3 better than any previous H Lyα or Hα ground-based measurements. The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and the Woods filter were used to obtain H Lyα images of the inner coma. The faint object spectrograph (FOS) was used to determine the OH production rate and monitor its variation throughout the HST observing sequence. The GHRS H Lyα line profiles show the behavior of a line profile that is optically thick in the core for positions near the nucleus (<5000 km) and gradually becoming more optically thin at larger displacements and lower column abundances. A composite H Lyα image constructed from four separate WFPC2 exposures is consistent with the relative fluxes seen in GHRS observations and clearly shows the dayside enhancement of a solar illuminated optically thick coma. These data were analyzed self-consistently to test our understanding of the detailed physics and chemistry of the expanding coma and our ability to obtain accurate water production rates from remote observations of gaseous hydrogen (H) and hydroxyl (OH), the major water dissociation products. Our hybrid kinetic/hydrodynamic model of the coma combined with a spherical radiative transfer calculation is able to account for (1) the velocity distribution of H atoms, (2) the spatial distribution of the H Lyα emission in the inner coma, and (3) the absolute intensities of H and OH emissions, giving a water production rate of (2.6 ± 0.4) × 10^(29) s^(-1) on 1996 April 4
Power dependence of pure spin current injection by quantum interference
We investigate the power dependence of pure spin current injection in GaAs
bulk and quantum-well samples by a quantum interference and control technique.
Spin separation is measured as a function of the relative strength of the two
transition pathways driven by two laser pulses. By keeping the relaxation time
of the current unchanged, we are able to relate the spin separation to the
injected average velocity. We find that the average velocity is determined by
the relative strength of the two transitions in the same way as in classical
interference. Based on this, we conclude that the density of injected pure spin
current increases monotonically with the excitation laser intensities. The
experimental results are consistent with theoretical calculations based on
Fermi's golden rule.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Design and Performance of the CMS Pixel Detector Readout Chip
The readout chip for the CMS pixel detector has to deal with an enormous data
rate. On-chip zero suppression is inevitable and hit data must be buffered
locally during the latency of the first level trigger. Dead-time must be kept
at a minimum. It is dominated by contributions coming from the readout. To keep
it low an analog readout scheme has been adopted where pixel addresses are
analog coded. We present the architecture of the final CMS pixel detector
readout chip with special emphasis on the analog readout chain. Measurements of
its performance are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the Pixel2005
Workshop, Bonn, German
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